The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventor(s), to the extent the work is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Wireless communication devices (hereinafter “device” or “devices”) such as smart phones and tablets are typically “location aware,” meaning that the device is capable of determining its position or location. A location of a device can be used as an input by navigation applications, social networking applications, location based service (LBS) applications, and so on. Most location aware devices calculate their location using measurements obtained from a satellite navigation system. A satellite navigation system is a system of satellites that permits an electronic receiver to calculate a location (e.g., longitude, latitude, altitude) to a high precision (within a few meters) using time signals transmitted from one or more satellites. A satellite navigation system with a global coverage is commonly referred to as a global navigation satellite system (GNSS). Example global navigation satellite systems include the Global Positioning system (GPS), the Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), the Galileo satellite navigation system, and the Beidou satellite navigation system. A location of a device can also be determined based on the location of nearby cellular communication towers and/or wireless fidelity (WiFi) access points and/or other wireless signals (WiFi, Bluetooth, or Zigbee). Often, data from more than one source (e.g., a satellite system and a WiFi system) is combined to determine or calculate a location of the device.